Ningbo - World Team Chess Championship 2011 - Final Round

An undefeated Armenian team secured the gold medal today at the 2011 World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo, China by drawing on all 4 boards with a strong Ukrainian team. A determined Chinese team won the last 4 rounds to challenge Armenia for the top spot, including a tough 2.5-1.5 victory over a strong Hungarian team, however they fell short by a half point and achieved clear 2nd place honors. Ukraine played a great team tournament and earned clear 3rd place. Although the Russian team boasted the highest average FIDE rating at 2752, they failed to play as a cohesive team and disappointed expectations even further with a heartbreaking 1.5-2.5 last round loss to an out-of-sorts Indian team. The US team would have benefited greatly from the presence of Hikaru Nakamura (FIDE 2770), however Nakamura was unable to attend as he is playing the ongoing super-tournament in Dortmund. Gata Kamsky played great chess on board 1 to help the USA rebound from a tough start to respectably finish in 6th place. The individual board gold medals were won by Wang Hao (Board 1, China), Wang Yue (Board 2, China), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Board 3, Russia), and Alexander Areshchenko (Board 4, Ukraine). The 2011 World Team Chess Championship was a fantastically strong event (Average FIDE of 2685!) that featured some exceptionally creative, attacking chess.

Robert Hess Lifts US Chess

19 year old Robert Hess won a double-edged last round game against Evgeny Postny to propel the US to a 2.5-1.5 victory against Israel. The game evolved from a Caro-Kann (Classical Variation) involving the currently topical 6. N1e2 and 7. Nf4 - attempting to challenge black's light-squared bishop with creative piece play and the h-pawn push. The game became complicated after opposite-side castling on move 17, and Hess attempted to directly push his attack through with 27. d5!? Hess achieved a decisive advantage after temporarily sacrificing a piece with 28. dxe6! - resulting in the win of a pawn but more importantly control of the center and a dangerous attack against black's king. After a few more accurate moves, Postny resigned after 36. a5 due to his lack of activity and counterplay.

Hess Vs Postny - Position after 28. dxe6!

Wang Yue Displays Gold Medal Technique

Wang Yue played some great chess on board 2 for China, and the last round was no exception. His 53-move positional massacre over Zoltan Almasi (2726) featured thorough preparation backed by accurate technical execution. Wang Yue played the white side of the English (Neo-Catalan, Accepted Variation) and speculatively sacrificed a pawn with 16. Nc3!? to achieve long-term positional pressure on black's weak queenside pawns. Wang Yue played the middlegame and endgame flawlessly, as the 24 year-old displayed the technique of an experienced veteran to avoid permitting Almasi the slightest counterplay. Almasi resigned in a hopeless position after 53. Kf3